Jeorgia Evans' tearful night: 500 kills, a win, and a family

WELLMAN

When her career night was over, there were tears.

And why not?

Mid-Prairie’s volleyball team, which has won two consecutive Iowa 3A regional championships but is unranked this year, had just finished off a reverse sweep win, Sept. 15, over River Valley South rival West Liberty in which junior Jeorgia Evans had scored a career-high 26 kills in a five-set match.

The Golden Hawks huddled on the court, circled by screaming fans, while head coach Sherry Evans ran off behind the bleachers to grab a sign she had made during a few down moments at work.

Jeorgia, Sherry’s daughter, had smashed her 500th career kill during the match.

Golden Hawk coaches Sherry and Zeb Evans presented the commemorative sign to their daughter as Jeorgia’s teammates surrounded her and then joined her for a photo.

Jeorgia sobbed.

Happy tears.

“I had no clue,” Jeorgia said.

And on a night when the Golden Hawks scored their biggest win of the season.

Soon, three generations of the Evans family joined Jeorgia for a photo. Among them was Jovi Evans, her older sister who won a regional championship with the Golden Hawks the last time she was on this court with Jeorgia. Now, Jovi is a freshman at Indian Hills Community College, playing on a volleyball team that is packed with international students and catching her sister’s games in person whenever she can.

“It is the best support system there is,” Jeorgia said. “It means a lot.”

For four years, Jovi Evans was the pounding heart of Mid-Prairie volleyball. She is why Sherry and Zeb Evans ever agreed to become Mid-Prairie’s co-coaches, and likely why Jeorgia is playing for the Golden Hawks, and not up the road at Iowa City West, where another older sister, Jaedynn, a two-time All-American when she played in college, is varsity head coach.

Jovi, along with childhood friend Dakota Mitchell, who is now a sophomore at North Texas State, led the Golden Hawks out of the River Valley South’s middle-of-the-pack seasons and to conference and regional championships. She was a three-time finalist in the 100- and 200-yard dashes at the state track championships. She was a starting guard in basketball. And when Jeorgia popped up on the Mid-Prairie campus as a freshman two years ago, they were inseparable.

It’s still that way.

But one look at her younger sister in a match this season, and Jovi gives you that look that says, yeah, this is why Iowa State gobbled up Jeorgia in a lightning-fast recruiting push in June. Within days of the first eligibility date for recruiting rising high school juniors, Jeorgia verbaled her commitment.

“She had the biggest smile,” Jovi says.

And, yes, the Hawkeyes also wanted Jeorgia.

In the match last Tuesday (Sept. 15) against West Liberty, Jeorgia Evans launched herself above the net, slamming kills at times past two defenders with force or sometimes softly tapping the ball over their heads or, just for a change, going cross-court.

Her 26 kills marked the second straight week for a career high.

“That kid had a game tonight,” Sherry Evans said. “Incredible hitting.”

“Proud of her leadership,” Sherry added.

And that is a big piece of Jeorgia’s game. She’s the cheerleader and the star. A year ago, two years ago, three years ago, that’s Jovi. The Golden Hawks look to Jeorgia now. And not just for the 205 kills that ranks fifth in the state or for the 258 digs that ranks fifth. She hasn’t missed a match or a set. She enthusiastically celebrates her teammates’ kills and blocks.

And she’s humble.

“She’s not here for herself,” Jovi said. “She has stepped up.”

At Iowa State, Jeorgia is projected to be a libero, a defensive specialist whose job is to hit back serves and kill attempts all over the floor. It’s a tough position with high demands that must be met in a split second. Jeorgia plays that position in club volleyball, but not at Mid-Prairie where she often lines up in the back row alongside sophomore libero Elise Foster or freshman libero Kinsley Gingerich. But at 5 feet 5 inches, Evans is nearly 2 feet shorter than the top of the net but still manages to fly above it. Of those top five attackers in Iowa, Evans is at least 3 inches shorter than any of them.

Jeorgia broke Iowa’s indoor high school record for long jumping in her first try as a freshman.

And she won a state championship in the long jump this past May.

But Jeorgia’s world is still changing. That’s scary.

“I have way more confidence this year,” she said.

Oh, it’s showing.

Sound good, Iowa State?

News columnist Paul Bowker can be reached at bowkerpaul1@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @bowkerpaul